


tear down the walls

by ArgentLives



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Detective Iris West, F/F, Falling In Love, Investigations, Medical Examiner Caitlin Snow, Shady government stuff, past Caitlin Snow/Ronnie Raymond - Freeform, probably inaccurate representations of medical examiners and detectives lmao what can ya do
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 03:33:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9951467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentLives/pseuds/ArgentLives
Summary: Detective Iris West and Dr. Caitlin Snow meet while collaborating on a suspected homicide case, but as fate would have it their paths aren't meant to only cross there. Detective West has a habit of chasing after the truth even after she's been told to stop, and Dr. Snow is still mourning the unexpected (and unusual) death of her fiancée, and both of them have questions no one is willing to answer. Something sinister is going on in Central City, and together they are determined to get to the bottom of it.[or the detective/medical examiner snowest au that someone asked me for a million years ago that i'm finally going to try to finish]





	

**Author's Note:**

> i promised zuzana i would write this for her like 2 years ago i'm the worst lmao; but anyway i figured i'd post what i had that's been sitting in my drafts for like...2 years now... and hopefully i'll actually be able to continue this the way i was planning to once upon a time. i did have a loose outline for it so we'll see, i've been so bad with writing lately but it'd be nice if i could actually finish a multi-chaptered story for once. a lot of this is older writing (again stuff from my drafts so the writing at least to start off with will probably not be my best but hopefully will improve as i write new material)
> 
> also disclaimer: i'm being super lazy with the actual detective/ME aspects of this because part of the reason i never got around to actually writing this was because the research i'd have to do to accurately depict how things went down in the ME's office was daunting but now i'm just like "fuck it this is a fic it's not real life and i'm just gonna do what i want" so all of my knowledge is mostly just based off the one time i visited the medical examiner's office last semester and was given an informational tour and sort of shown how and where they do things so yeah anyway that's that 
> 
> also the POVs will probably switch between Iris and Caitlin, and i'll add tags and stuff as i go (if i go)
> 
> also also Caitlin is still probably gonna be a lesbian in this bc that's just my headcanon for her but she hasn't quite realized it yet and she did genuinely care about Ronnie jus not...in that way
> 
> this is a really long note for a really short chapter SORRY

The walk from the entrance of the Medical Examiner’s office, past the investigation unit, down the stairs and to the freezers and examination rooms, was paved by the usual empty choruses of _‘Hello’_ s and ‘ _Good morning, Dr. Snow’_ s from her colleagues. She gripped her half-empty coffee cup tightly in her right hand as she strode past them, willing the caffeine to settle in faster and vaguely acknowledging their greetings with a sharp nod here and there. She knew she had something of a reputation at work—she wasn’t stupid, she’d heard the whispers behind her back. Cold. Unemotional. Bossy. And yet, like most things nowadays, she couldn’t really bring herself to care. Besides, this was her profession, and so she’d rather keep it all professional. Who had time for pleasantries, anyway?

She downed the rest of her coffee and tossed away the cup as she rounded a corner, nearly walking right into Cisco Ramon, her friend and colleague and really the only person in the building—or, well, anywhere, really—who she was willing to let her guard down around.

“What do we have today?” she asked Cisco briskly as he fell into step beside her.

“A body came in earlier and…well, it’s waiting for you in #1. The cause of death appears to be…ah,” Cisco shot a nervous glance her way as they come to a stop in the basement hallway.

“It’s what, Cisco?” she prompted, voice steely, even though she already knew, of course, why he was walking on egg-shells around her. There was really only one explanation, and this wasn’t the first time this had happened. She steeled herself out of habit against the blast of cold air that greeted her when she pulled open the heavy metal door to the first freezer, but in all honesty she’d long since become immune to the cold. And the smell.

“Cause of death was…well, he died in a fire,” Cisco winced, as though expecting her to lash out at the word, but she kept her eyes forward and her expression unreadable as she inclined her head just barely, encouraging him to go on. “I mean, we examined the lungs and it appears to be the smoke that killed him in the end, not necessarily the burns, although there’s plenty of those, too.”

“Ah,” was all she could say, hating the way her voice trembled as she peeled back the plastic covering to reveal the body, skin blackened and sloughing off in certain places, chest already sliced opened, lungs resting on a separate table nearby. She felt something cold settle in her stomach, that familiar ache she got from reminders like this, reminders of the one thing she wanted most to forget.

“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay with this one? I can take over,” Cisco asked tentatively, placing a gentle hand on her arm. His eyes were nothing but sincere, filled with genuine concern, but she wretched her arm away from his touch nonetheless.

“I can handle it, Cisco. This is my job,” she snapped at him with more malice than she intended, but her anger didn’t deter him, didn’t scare him off like it would any other of her co-workers. Instead, he pressed on, his frown only deepening, the crease between his eyebrows becoming more prominent.

“Caitlin…”

She sighed, already regretting snapping at him, and gave him a tight smile as a form of apology. It was really all she could manage.

“Really, Cisco, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

He seemed reluctant to accept this as an answer, and she knew that he was going to keep worrying about her no matter what she said, always did, but he nodded anyway, letting the matter drop and getting down to work. They took a perfunctory examination in tense silence for a few moments before he cleared his throat, just as Caitlin was examining the worst of the man’s burns.

“Detective West is coming down here to meet us soon, to discuss this one. Apparently, according to the CSI’s examination of the scene where the body was found, something’s off about the fire that killed this guy. Might not have been an accident,” Cisco bit his lip and rolled up his glove a bit to check his watch. “Should be here any minute.”

Caitlin nodded absently, continuing on with what she was doing. She’d worked with Detective Joe West before, on a homicide case about a year ago. Nice guy. The tough-but-soft kind, she thought, at least from what she’d gathered from their brief conversations. He was easy to work with, wouldn’t question her authority in her area of expertise or ask ridiculous questions, unlike some of the other people she’d had to put up with at CCPD. But just as quickly as the memory of him came to her it was gone, and she was back with full-focus on examining the body before her.

‘Should be here any minute’ turned into something more like thirty minutes, and she rolled her eyes in mild irritation and just a touch of fondness. There was a logical reason as to why their expected guests were so late—and that reason had to be CCPD’s CSI forensic assistant Barry Allen. She was too deeply engrossed in her work to hear the footsteps approaching, and it took Cisco poking her arm repeatedly for her to finally realize they had company. “Cait—Dr. Snow, remember what I told you earlier? About the investigation?” he said, prodding her arm and attempting to tear her away from what she’s doing.

“Oh—Detective West, of course,” she said with some reluctance, her back towards him, peeling off one of her gloves and depositing it in a little waste bin nearby before spinning around to face him, hand outstretched—only to realize that it wasn’t a him. She dropped her arm in surprise, taken off guard by the woman before her: young, short, petite, and exceptionally pretty. And, most notably, definitely not the man she was expecting.

“You’re not Detective West,” Caitlin blurted, blunt and to the point, and immediately felt the desire to bite her tongue off in mortification as the woman arched an eyebrow at her, looking mildly offended. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s okay,” the woman said, waving it off and offering up her hand, giving her a warm smile that made the skin around her eyes crinkle a bit and put dimples in her cheeks that left Caitlin even more baffled. She wasn’t exactly used to strangers being… _kind_ to her. Not nowadays, at least. “Although I assure you I am Detective West. You must have been expecting Joe West, I’m assuming? I’m his daughter—Iris. He retired this year and I’ve sort of…taken up the mantle, I guess.”

“Oh—oh, yes, that makes sense. I worked a case with him last year and—well, I apologize for assuming. I’m Caitlin. Dr. Snow,” she stammered, shaking Detective West’s hand.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Dr. Snow,” Iris—Detective West, she corrected herself—said, and Caitlin marveled at the enthusiasm, the way she carried herself, as though she wasn’t currently in a freezer surrounded by dead and decaying bodies. _Jesus Christ,_ Caitlin thought to herself _, how was she still smiling like that? Didn’t her face hurt_? Caitlin really wouldn’t be surprised, but she wasn’t exactly disappointed. It was sort of nice, for a change. “This is our department’s forensic specialist, Barry Allen. I think you’ve met, already,” Detective West gestured to the man standing beside her, and Caitlin blinked, fully registering his presence for the first time. She’d been so flustered she hadn’t even noticed him there, but he just waved and grinned back at her, with a sunny smile to match the one the detective had given her.

Christ, why were these people so _happy_?

Caitlin nodded at him, pursing her lips together and attempting a smile probably came out more like a grimace. “Yes, ah—pleasure to work with you again.”

“Anyway, I’m looking forward to working with you,” Detective West said, drawing Caitlin’s attention back to her. Her eyes were bright, expression eager. “This is actually my first time as the lead investigator on a case, believe it or not.”

“That’s…great,” Caitlin said, inwardly cringing at the apathy in her voice. She was trying not to be prickly, really, she was—she could feel Cisco’s eyes on her, sense his exasperation—but she really had no patience for working with newbies. She didn’t have much patience for much at all anymore, her temper always near the surface.

Judging by the frown on Detective West’s face, she had definitely noticed. Caitlin hated herself a little for putting it there.

She coughed, clearing her throat, and turned back to the charred and blackened body. Even in its state, she felt as though she was the under examination, like it was watching her accusingly. She felt Cisco move into step next to her, and heard Detective West shuffle her feet, unsure of what to expect.

“Let’s get started, then. This victim still needs to be prepped for examination, but tell me what you know,” Caitlin said, pushing the guilt out of her mind and doing what she did best—blocking out any emotion, and channeling all her focus into her work.


End file.
